The Four Elements of Hip-Hop

“Hір-hор isn’t ѕоmеthіng уоu juѕt do. Hip-hор is something you lіvе.” Many of the hip-hop heads I knоw are always reminding me of this mantra. They tеll mе thаt hір-hop isn’t just аbоut the music, but аbоut thе lіfеѕtуlе, and the hіѕtоrу thаt іѕ расkаgеd along wіth it. Alоngѕіdе thе vеrѕеѕ of artists like Dr. Dre, Tuрас, аnd Bіggіе Smаllѕ аrе brаndеd lifestyles that аrе аѕѕосіаtеd wіth thе music. Whеn I аѕk people whаt the hip-hор lifestyle consists of, I get a variety of responses, like music, money, partying, girls, clothes, East Coast, West Coast, and a bunch of other answers.

However, when I first started getting into hip-hop, I asked a wise friend of mine what it was all about, and he broke it down for me. He shared that hip-hop isn’t just a genre of music, or about having swag or being fly. He enlightened me to the history of hip-hop, and how it formed in the beginning. He told me to “Never forget the Four O.G.s – the DJs, the MCs, the B-Boys, and the Graffiti artists.”

Graffiti is known by many as the visual expression of rap music. It can be used to express a variety of messages, ranging from deep social or political issues, to expressions of beauty and creativity, to even marking one’s territory. Graffiti has been around since the earliest days of human civilization, but it is most commonly expressed in hip-hop culture via the aerosol paint can. Big bubble letters and complex murals are what comes to most people’s minds when they think of hip-hop graffiti, but it can really take any form of letters and pictures.

B-boying, or break-dancing, is the fourth element, and is known as the physical expression of hip-hop. The reason it’s called “break” dancing is because it was common for dancers to come up and show their best moves to the audience during the “break” section of the DJ’s song. The break is where there is an instrumental or percussion interlude – a perfect time for a dancer to take the stage and captivate an audience. While break-dance has roots in a number of cultures, it took the world by storm after it’s emergence in the early hip-hop scene among mainly Black and Puerto Rican youths in inner-city New York. Today, b-boying has now spread to all parts of the globe, and remains a key part of the hip-hop culture and lifestyle.

Most people just think of hip-hop as a form of music. Many of the most learned hip-hops heads will tell you there’s way more to hip-hop than just these four elements. But for the student of hip-hop, the four main elements are a great place to start. So if you want to be a real hip-hop head, you better know your stuff when it comes to DJing, MCing, B-boying, and Graffiti.